Arsenal receive clear Sesko hint as club chief makes transfer preference known

Arsenal have Benjamin Sesko high on their shortlist this summer and the RB Leipzig has been overlooked for his club's kit launch as doubt continues over his future

Arsenal may have been given the biggest indication yet that Benjamin Sesko is on the move this summer after RB Leipzig released their new kit without including the striker in their launch. The Slovenian is among their biggest names and would usually be included - but was overlooked.

That is likely motivated by his uncertain future with Sesko attracting plenty of attention. Leipzig did include Xavi Simons, who is also the subject of transfer interest, but their striker was overlooked with the Gunners among those linked with his signature.

Sesko has continued to thrive at the German outfit and Leipzig have shown themselves to be a selling club for the right fee. This term he's scored 21 times and Arsenal's priority this summer will be on adding more firepower.

In recent transfer windows they've failed to bring in a prolific No 9 and that has come back to haunt them. Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko are understood to be their two main targets.

Both Gyokeres and Sesko would cost under £75million, meaning they could be signed without breaking the bank. Plenty of work has been done on Sesko, who was a target last summer before the Slovenia star decided to sign a new contract with RB Salzburg.

Arsenal's new sporting director, Andrea Berta, is believed to favour a move for Gyokeres, though, who is likely to be allowed to leave Sporting Lisbon for less than his release clause - meaning he could be as much as £15m cheaper than Sesko.

Mikel Arteta insists that the summer plan is to further invest in the team, but wants to stick to their values. He said: “We will do everything that we can to improve the team and especially improve the players that we already have and whatever the market offers to give us a better chance to win for sure we will try to do it. But I think we have to do it our way, and we have to be authentic with ourselves and what we believe and what we can do as well and what we've been doing. That's it.”

In the second half of the Arsenal have been without Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus - the two men who would usually lead their line. It has exposed their lack of depth. Arteta has said: “We knew from the beginning of the decision that our squad was super short and being super short we had some players that had a high probability of getting injured."

Not since the 2019/20 season have Arsenal had a player surpass the 20-goal mark in the Premier League - on that occasion it was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Meanwhile their rivals - the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City - have forwards who they can rely upon for regular goals.